The youngest patient that I ever treated was 4 weeks old. I was completing my clinical internship at Boston Medical Center in pediatric acupuncture and my supervisor had connected us with the unit that cares for babies with Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS). These are the littles who are born addicted to some sort of substance. NAS is characterized by issues with feeding/ latching, slow weight gain, digestive complaints like diarrhea and/or constipation and gas. Needless to say, these symptoms make these babies incessantly fussy.
The nurse handed me this beautiful tiny little baby and I started the acupressure protocol that we had been taught. By the time I was finished, she had fallen asleep on the swaddling blanket. I wrapped her back up and set her in the bassinet. Her mother, also recovering, sat nearby and said she was so grateful to finally see her baby girl peacefully sleeping after a really rough day.
At the time, I had a 9 month old baby of my own at home. I started to use these same treatment strategies with him. If he had gas, I would use a point on his shin along with some gentle abdominal massage. If he was fussy and having a hard time falling asleep, I would rock him and gently pat his head to bring down yang and encourage sleep. If he was teething, I would use a point on his toe for his lower gums and a point on his finger for the upper gums. These strategies were amazing to use on my tiniest of patients but were even more empowering as a parent.
There is nothing so lonely as being up all hours with a fussy infant after you have worked so hard to establish a good sleep schedule. Whether it’s something physical or the overwhelming changes that occur for them as they take in the world around them, acupressure offers parents another tool in the toolbox to help soothe their little ones from the earliest of days and onward.
My last patient at BMC was a little boy with “failure to thrive”. He had come from a foreign country with his brave mama to seek out help. At the age of 3, he barely weighed as much as my infant at home. I would come in and work with him, playing games and making silly faces while gently massaging points that helped increase appetite, promoted peristalsis, and soothed the nervous system. As time went on, I came to the realization that I should teach his mother how to do this same protocol that I had tailored specifically for him. With the help of an interpreter, we went to work. As I showed her how to find the points on him and how to apply acupressure, tears welled up in her eyes and she thanked me for this gift that made her feel a part of healing her son.
It is for this reason that I adore this work almost more than helping people build their families. By teaching someone acupressure to use on their child, they are learning tools that make them more confident parents. It is said in Traditional Chinese Medicine that “The heart of the mother is the body of the child and the body of the child is the heart of the mother.” I feel this is true for both parents and it warms my heart to share these tools with others
Interested in working with Heather? Reach out to info@gentlegiraffes.com
